Rifted
by Grummelnut
Summary: When a potentially dangerous anomaly appears, neither SHIELD or the Captain is able to deal with it. Yet, when the only external help capable of fixing the problem arrives, Steve shoves them into the rift...
1. The Anomaly

Chapter One: The Anomaly

When the initial intel had come in from Coulson's team that they were moving in to investigate an unidentifiable anomaly that had appeared with constantly fluctuating energy outputs, Steve had perked up. He hadn't been thawed for long so there were very few things that caught his attention, especially ones he was familiar with. He'd gone to Director Fury immediately to request that he and Black Widow accompany Agent Coulson's team to determine what the anomaly was and the extent of its damage, when asked why he'd simply responded with the fact that he had had experience with something similar back in the 40s.

Despite quirking a brow, Fury authorised him and Romanov to help deal with the situation.

* * *

The Captain reached up over his shoulder and placed his shield on his back, he stared with mild worry as his face was bathed in the orange glow coming from the rippling, surreal tear that hovered in the corner of the chamber. It spat and cracked loudly as its shape constantly distorted.

Natasha stepped up beside him, cocked her head to the side in fascination.

"This is new," she commented.

Steve didn't say anything, his face was still painted with concern, his blue eyes darting back and forth with every movement of the tear.

"I've seen a lot of things in my time, never something like this, still, it can't be much different from everything else we've faced," Natasha smirked then looked up at the Captain whose gaze was still firmly fixed on the anomaly. "Guess this is a first for you too, huh?"

"Actually-" he began but was cut off by Agent Phil Coulson entering the chamber behind them. The two Avengers turned their bodies slightly to face him as he scrolled through some intel on his pad.

"My team's checked every corner of this place, no sign that anyone but us has been here, can't say for sure what-" the agent looked up from his tablet and spotted the tear, his body straightened and he pointed a finger. "Huh. So this is what's causing all the commotion. Pretty cool, I have to say,"

Natasha nodded her head in agreement. "We need to find out what it is though, you bring your scientists with you?"

"Of course, they're on the Bus, I never leave home without them," Coulson smiled.

"Well," she took a step toward the anomaly. "They've got their work cut out for them I think,"

Steve grabbed her arm before she could take another step toward it.

"Don't go near it," he warned them both. "No one can go near it,"

"Easy there, Fossil," Natasha said, gently pulling her arm free of Steve's grip.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Coulson asked.

The moment the words escaped his lips a creature sprung from the rift shrieking. It's mottled red skin was leathery and taut over small muscles. The creature itself wasn't very big, perhaps three feet tall with a slightly enlarged head and bulging eyes. Steve just about managed to grab a hold of its hips and chuck it to the floor, but not before it scratched his cheek.

Natasha and Coulson drew their guns and unloaded. The creature screamed as it died. It's crimson flesh turning grey as its muscles went slack.

"What the fuck was that!" Natasha yelled.

"That... Was a demon," Steve panted, he then pointed a finger at the tear. "And that... That is a Hell Rift,"

"A what?" Natasha quirked a brow and looked at Coulson in disbelief. The older man looked up at the Captain as he lowered his weapon.

"A Hell Rift," Coulson nodded his head in agreement.

"You've dealt with this before too?"

"No, but I know of them," Coulson told him. "This isn't good,"

"No," Rogers agreed. "It isn't,"

"Anyone willing to fill me in?"

"It's a long story, but, the longer this rift is open, the more likely it is that more of those things are going find it and come pouring out," Steve told her.

"Great, so how do we deal with it then?" Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure _we_ can," Coulson said. "They're heavily influenced by magic and other supernatural weird things,"

"Okay, so, do you know anyone with expertise in supernatural weird things?" Widow folded her arms.

"Once," Steve muttered.

"Meaning... He's dead now or what?"

"I've no idea what happened to him, but he played a role just as important as, if not more important than, mine during the war,"

"So this happened back during the war too?" Natasha asked.

"The Tesseract wasn't the only thing Red Skull was attempting to control," Steve explained. "Stuff like these appear everywhere, all the time, always have,"

"And this is all according to a person you met this one time?"

Steve nodded. "I don't know where he came from, but he became a good friend and he knew what he was doing,"

Coulson cleared his throat. "Lucky for us,"

"What is?"

"I ran into someone a few years back who also knows how to deal with these things,"

"You did?"

"Yeah, he's not exactly a human though,"

"Doesn't matter," Rogers told him. "Are you able to get a hold of him?"

"So long as his phone is turned on, and he's somewhere with a signal," Coulson nodded.

"Do it, it's the best option we've got right now," Steve said.

"Not exactly human?" Window asked confused. "I think that does matter,"

"Not right now," Rogers snapped. he looked at Coulson. "We need to sort this out as quickly as possible,"

The agent nodded then looked at Natasha, she'd recoiled a little at Steve's outlash. "While I do this, I'd appreciate it if you got my team in here, we might need the extra guns if he takes a while to arrive,"

"Good idea," Natasha said, casting an irritated look at the Captain.

"I told them to regroup on the Bus, so they should all be there," Coulson continued.

"We should probably get a move on," Steve said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah,"

"This is serious,"

"I know, Steve! Just relax," she told him heatedly. "It's not like there's anything worse than demons that'll come pouring out,"

Steve waited until she was out of earshot. "You'd be surprised,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Coulson asked.

Steve looked over his shoulder. "Long story,"

"One I'd like to hear at some point. Sooner rather than later, preferably." With that Coulson tapped his phone and wandered to one of the corners to conduct his call.

* * *

Natasha sprinted up the ramp of the Bus, Coulson's team, Fitz, Jemma, Skye, May, and Mack were anxiously loitering in the cargo hold. They all looked at her in unison, eyes darting to look for the others.

"Where's Coulson?" Skye asked. "He said to regroup here,"

Natasha jabbed a finger over her shoulder. "He's making a call. In the meantime, you need to gear up, we need your help,"

"The energy signal?" Fitz asked. "You found it?"

"Hard to miss," shrugged the spy.

"What is it?"

"Cap seems to think it's something called a Hell Rift,"

"That sounds... Pleasant," Jemma winced.

"What's a hell rift?" Ftiz asked.

"I'm sure the Captain will be more than willing to explain once we get back,"

"Well, what sort of equipment do we need to investigate?"

"None, the only equipment you'll need are guns," Natasha said.

"Um... Why's that, exactly?" Jemma raised a finger slightly.

"Captain says it's too dangerous. He doesn't want anyone near it," came the reply. Natasha glanced at May. "I don't want to leave the boys alone for long, there's some pretty weird stuff going on down there,"

"Right," May nodded standing by the ramp.

"Um, I'd recommend a gun," Widow told her.

"If I need a gun, I'll take one," May cocked her head to the side with a slightly irritated expression on her face.

"Trust me, you'll need one, maybe even two, just to be safe," Widow held out a pistol for her.

"Any particular reason?" May asked, not moving to take the gun.

Natasha glared at the woman. "We might have to fight some demons on behalf of humankind,"

May mulled it over for a split second, then took the gun and holstered it with a nod.

"Demons?" Mack raised a brow, cocked his shotgun. "Great."

"Like Devil May Cry, type demons?" Skye asked, slotting her pistol into the back of her trousers.

"Uh sure... I'm thinking more like demons from the film, Demons," Romanov shrugged as she pocketed a few extra clips.

"Oh," Fitz made a face. "I'm not sure-"

"No backing out, Turbo," Mack said.

"He's right, even Steve is worried, we'll need every gun we can get," Natasha said.

Skye looked at the others, she'd only been on the team a couple of months, and they were all acting nonchalant about the entire situation. "So, is this normal for you guys?"

"Not really, but it's to be expected," Mack told her.

"You're not scared?"

"Of course, but this is our job,"

"Oh. Okay." She played with her fingers, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. "Does that mean I'm qualified to fight them?"

"About as qualified as any of us are," May told her. "Come on let's go,"

Fitz picked up a gun, held it with little familiarity then carefully tucked it into his backpack. Jemma seemed no more confident in the situation, she looked at him. He smiled.

"What do you think it could be?" Fitz asked as the group started to move.

"Could be anything, I've never heard anything like it," Jemma said.

"I mean, for something to open and allow demons through," Fitz's eyes gleamed as he chewed the puzzle over.

"It seems impossible,"

"Magical, possibly,"

"Fitz," Jemma said in her softly condescending tone.

"I know, that's a stupid idea,"

"An improbable idea, not stupid, we don't know for sure, it might be magic for all we know,"

"Maybe, if only we could analyse it," he stared at the ground then piped up to the others. "Are you sure-"

"This isn't a field trip, Fitz," May cut him off.

"Fully aware, the possibility of death or worse, I know," he rattled off quickly. "But it still needs investigating,"

Jemma grabbed Fitz's wrist. "Let's not go in out of our depth, okay?"

"Right," Fitz nodded, relaxing. "Sorry,"

"You two are far too excited for something out of a horror film," Skye muttered.

"If the Cap says it's dangerous then we're not risking anyone,"

* * *

Coulson waited agitatedly for the two rings it took before his contact answered the call. He didn't have to say anything as the person he was calling answered as if expecting the call.

"Coulson!" said a gruff but cheery voice. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oric," Coulson smiled. "Unfortunately, this isn't to catch up,"

"Had a feeling," Oric said. "I guess you're calling in that favour then?"

"Yeah," nodded the agent. "We might've found a Hell Rift in Virginia and we've no idea how to stop it,"

"Virginia? Not possible,"

"Why's that?"

"Fourteen rifts opened up today, but none of them are in Virginia," Oric told him.

"You know this how?"

"I'm a demon, Coulson, I can sense them, that and I'm looking at a map right now,"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive,"

"Well, I'm looking at something that resembles a Hell Rift, so what is it?"

"Not sure exactly,"

"Well, whatever it is, a demon came through,"

Oric fell silent for a moment. Coulson heard him breathing.

"That's not good," he said eventually.

"I'm aware, we're not entirely sure how to contain this situation," Coulson explained. "Can you help?"

"Personally, no,"

"Can you at least tell us how to stop it?"

"It's not something you mortals can just... do,"

"Not helping,"

"I'll send my son, Adam, he's young but just as capable of handling these situations as I am,"

"Great, when should we expect him?"

"No idea, but he'll get to you as quickly as he can,"

With that Oric hung up the phone.

Coulson huffed.

He'd met Oric once before, and even then he never took the idea of danger seriously, Coulson figured that's what came with being an invulnerable demon. Cockiness in the face of death because you were technically already dead.

The agent looked up from his phone to Steve.

"Well?" The captain asked.

"Helps to come," Coulson told him. "I just don't know when,"

"So your contact failed?"

"No, no, I trust him to deliver, he's just a little too laid back sometimes, immortality does that too you I suppose,"

Steve pointed at the rift.

"We don't have time to spare, I've seen what this thing can do, there are monsters you couldn't fathom,"

"And I believe you," Coulson said. "But if we want to take care of this properly we'll have to give it time, no matter how long,"

"What if we can't hold them off?"

Coulson could see that the Captain was genuinely afraid, whatever previous experience Rogers had with them, it clearly hadn't ended as well as it could've been. He couldn't know for sure, there wasn't anything documented on rifts in the 40s.

"We held off an army of aliens once," Coulson told him reassuringly. "I think we can take care of a few demons,"

"Right," Steve agreed with a nod. "Except you died,"

Coulson shrugged. "Yeah, well, live and learn I suppose,"

Steve looked at the rift again.

Then quietly added. "We even had a Hulk that time around,"


	2. Coffee First

Chapter Two: Coffee First

Adam cradled his head in his hands. Sighed. Dropped his left arm and rested his chin in the palm of his right. He huffed to blow some hair out of his face then looked down at the article he was reading. The case he was working was proving difficult, three days and both he and his partner, Theresa Ashford, were no closer to finding a valid lead.

He shoved the pad away and dropped his head onto the desk with a groan.

A few moments later a hand landed gently on his shoulder and squeezed.

"You alright?" Theresa asked him as she placed a coffee cup down on his desk.

"I'm exhausted,"

"I can tell," she asked him, sitting on his desk. "Did you go home last night?"

"No, slept here," came the drowsy reply, he sat up and took a swig of the coffee.

Theresa grabbed the cup from him. "That's not for you,"

Adam slumped back in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. "Seriously?"

She smiled and handed him the cup back. "Of course not,"

Theresa was thirty-four years old, married and with a baby girl. Her hair was raven and she looked a lot younger than her age, Adam assumed that was due to her demon genetics.

Adam took another long drink of coffee.

"So, did you find anything?" she folded her arms.

"Nope,"

"Not surprised, I'm starting to think this escapee is a lot smarter than we'd like,"

"Mmm," Adam nodded, he handed her back the polystyrene cup. "I need a walk,"

"Yeah, I think you do too," Theresa agreed as he got to his feet. "You look like hell,"

Adam rolled his head in her direction, he waggled a finger at her. "Good one, how long have you been waiting to use that?"

"Literally two minutes,"

"Yeah, right," Adam laughed as he headed for the door. "See you in a few,"

Theresa gave him a mock salute before picking up the file he'd been reading.

* * *

Adam strolled from the building with his hands in his pockets, he crossed the courtyard toward the road as a yawn split his face. Crossing, he headed into the park down a path lined with trees, as he walked his eyes danced from trunk to trunk, watching as squirrel bounded effortlessly up them in fear of the few passers-by. It was a warm morning and that left him uncomfortable in his shirt and tie, so he was glad he'd left his jacket behind.

As always when he was alone, he fell into his memories.

The last six years of his life had been a bit of an eye-opener for him. In his teenage years, he figured the world was normal, at least as normal as it could be until he was brought to Souler, a company specialised in dealing with the supernatural.

He smiled to himself at how naive he'd been, a girl passing by smiled back shyly but her expression dried up immediately and she hurried by with a shocked look on her face, he turned his head and stared after her for a moment, she didn't look his way so he fell back into thought.

 _Strange._

Again, he fell into reminiscing.

Once he'd finished his GCSEs he'd been plucked from his 'normal' life and dropped into a weird and terrifying one. Where most of his friends had gone to university, Adam had been taken to the underworld by a father he'd only seen on special occasions; there he was taught how to wield and use magic. He was also informed about the global presence of the organisation Souler, a relatively invisible agency tasked with hunting down "escapees" from Hell.

It was also here that it had come to his attention that he wasn't Human, or at least, he wasn't completely Human. As it turned out, he was Cambion, born of a demon and a Human. In his case, his dad was the demon, one of the Upper Demons no less, who was part of a group tasked with keeping Hell separate from Life.

How his mother had fallen for a demon, he still had no clue, and he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of asking her either.

Additionally, he didn't much like his father, namely because he'd tried to kill Adam by pitting him against one of the most deadly hell-beasts when he was twenty years old; even though Adam was trained and skilled enough to defeat it, the victory hadn't come without its consequence, which for him was getting his back ripped open and almost dying. Neither he or his mother had been forgiving about that, and while Adam's demonic blood bound him to protect Life from Hell, he promised his mother he'd never interact with his father.

He touched the medallion hanging around his neck through his shirt, it was a pentagram with a crucifix in the dead center. His mother had been gifted it by Oric when they'd first met, but, being a Catholic, she'd taken it to a shop and had the crucifix added later before handing it down to Adam when she got a miniaturised version of it.

Despite everything, it was the thing he held most dearly, keeping him close to both his mum and dad now that he saw nothing of either of them.

Snapping out his trance, Adam found himself standing by the fountain in the center of the park, he listened carefully to the water spewing from mouths of the angels and splashing into the pool below. He stared for a long while into the water, saw his reflection, he looked like crap, his eyes were tired, his shirt creased and his hair needed his fingers run through it. Grooming himself in public wasn't his thing though. He thought it made people look weird, he'd have to take a detour to the toilets before he got back to working the case.

He sucked in a deep breath, it was still early enough in the morning for the air to have its break-of-dawn freshness, and the coolness helped to counter the muscle shakes after drinking coffee having had barely any sleep.

His phone rang in his back pocket, interrupting his peace of mind.

With a sigh, he slipped it out and checked the caller ID.

It was Theresa.

Tempted to hit decline, he subconsciously accepted it and raised the device to his ear.

"You got something?" he asked, not too excited at the possibility of having a lead.

"Sort of," Theresa responded, Adam could hear her shuffling some papers which at some point ended up on the floor. "Dammit,"

"Sort of?" Adam watched as a Yorkshire Terrier appeared from around a bush and jumped right into the fountain. When it broke the surface its long hair was matted and clung to its body.

"Your dad called," she told him bluntly; she was attempting to pick up the papers she'd dropped.

Adam blinked, his eyes returning forward.

"What did he want?"

"He's got a job for us,"

"We have a case already," Adam muttered, the Terrier's owner was scolding the animal as they lifted it from the fountain and set it on the ground.

"I told him that," Theresa explained, slightly flustered from having to trap the phone between her shoulder and face while simultaneously gather together the files. "He said this one took priority,"

Adam waited.

"He owes a SHIELD agent a favour but he can't see to it, so he wants us to go instead," Theresa continued.

"Of course he can't," Adam grumbled. "Why's he want us to go? Is there no one else?"

"He already told them he was sending us," Theresa explained. "Look, I told your dad we'd do it so you need to get back here so we can get going,"

"Theresa..." he sighed.

"Adam!"

"Alright! Fine! What's the case?" he relented.

"Some sort of rift opened up in Virginia,"

Adam's eyes widened a little, that was certainly a step up from the regular individual escapees he'd become accustomed to dealing with.

"Right, give me a minute," Adam told her.

"Mhmm,"

He hung up and made the return journey back to the building.

* * *

Theresa was waiting for him at their desks with another cup of coffee and his coat, a large handbag was hanging from her right shoulder. He approached her as he adjusted the belt around his waist.

"What took you so long?"

"Went to the toilet," he answered.

"Of course you did," she sighed. He eyed the cup but shook his head when she held it out for him to take.

"I've got the shakes, no way I'm drinking more coffee,"

"Suit yourself," she took a drink from it of her own.

"Ever think we drink too much of that stuff?" Adam asked slipping on his waistcoat.

"Nope," she shook her head. "You got your contacts?"

"I'm not wearing them?"

"Nope," she shook her head again. "Silver as the moon,"

"Great,"

He spent a few moments rummaging around in his drawer, eventually, he pulled out a small box which he opened and extracted two lenses.

"Wait, did you go for a walk without contacts in?"

Adam seized up. "Shit,"

Now he knew why that girl had looked at him funny.

"Idiot,"

"No one saw me, don't worry," he lied.

"You're an idiot for lying too, just put them in,"

Adam did so while exhaling heavily. Theresa watched him with mild amusement.

"You're such a baby, you know that?"

"Is there not a spell for this?" he complained.

"No," Theresa growled. "And you don't even have the ability to disguise yourself either so deal with it,"

"Whatever," he snapped the box shut and dropped it back into his drawer which he then slammed shut. "Let's get going then,"

"You don't need anything else?"

"No,"

"Got your phone still?"

Adam looked at her incredulously. "Jesus Christ... Yes, mum,"

She held out his coat for him.

"What?" He asked.

She shook the piece of clothing. "Take it,"

"You said we were going to Virginia,"

"Yeah?"

"Why on Earth would I need a coat in a place like Virginia,"

"They have storms," she told him.

"They also have humidity," Adam told her matter-of-factly.

She dropped it on his desk and headed toward the transport room.

"Alright, but don't come crying to me when you're cold and wet," she said over her shoulder.

Adam stared after her for a moment, then looked at the coat, then at the back of her head. His nose curled briefly before he snatched it up and followed after her.

"Where in Virginia is it exactly?" he asked once he'd caught up on his longer legs.

Theresa spotted him holding his coat and smirked triumphantly.

"South of Charlottesville, don't worry, I have the coordinates for the node," She told him.

They walked in silence for a moment.

Theresa looked up at him. "You okay?"

Startled by the question Adam looked at her. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, we're, you know, taking a job directly from your dad,"

"And?"

"And you hate him,"

He shrugged. "So? You know what he did, I'm sure you'd be angry too if your dad almost killed you,"

"Just surprised you're coming along so willingly, is all,"

"Don't think your husband would forgive me if something happened to you,"

"Stop changing the subject,"

"Stop pushing my buttons, Tess," Adam chuckled. "You do this all the time, it doesn't work,"

"Oh but it does," she told him cockily.

The transport room was a small octagon in the basement of their little office branch of Souler. The node in the center of the room was capable of transporting two people at a time. Travel was near instantaneous, so long as your target destination was on the surface.

Theresa stepped up to the podium within the circular node. The podium itself was simply a bowl of sand standing a little above waist height, on opposite sides of the bowl were the transporter pads where the travelers had to stand in order to be teleported; and looming above them like a metal umbrella, was the destination input hood.

Theresa punched in the coordinates onto a small pad attached to the overhead hood then waited for Adam. The Cambion stepped up onto the stage opposite her and put his free hand in his pocket, the other dangling his coat by his side.

"What are you doing?" Theresa asked him.

"Waiting for you," he replied. "Go on, draw out the rune,"

"Oh, right, I forgot you were five years old and easily entertained,"

"You must be getting old then," Adam shrugged, a slight smirk on his lips. "Memory loss is a pain,"

Theresa started drawing.

He watched with delight as he still couldn't get over the fact that when something was traced out in the sand bowl, a flaming three-dimensional version of it appeared directly above at head height.

"Satisfied?" Theresa snapped, staring at him through the floating rune.

"Very," he smiled back at her.

"Em-" She began.

"Embio!" Adam cut her off.

Their bodies vanished.


	3. Push Comes To Shove

Chapter Three: Push Comes to Shove.

Adam stared up at the towering column of dirt that had sprung up around them when they, as Theresa had aptly put it, "spawned" in Virginia. When the residual magic wore off and the column fell, they stepped from the pentagram that had been burned into the dirt they stood on. Adam stood with his hands on his hips, his coat hanging like a cape off his right shoulder, he frowned at the surrounding trees and squinted up toward the lush green hills. After a moment Adam turned to face Theresa.

"Where are we?" he asked, wandering away from her in the direction of a road.

"Virginia,"

"Are you sure you punched in the right coordinates?" he asked loudly as he stopped in front of a large sign.

Theresa scowled at him and yelled back. "Of course, I did!"

"Then why are we at the Northern Shenandoah National Park entrance?"

"I told you before we left, North of Charlottesville,"

"You said South," Adam mumbled.

"Alright! So, I misinformed you by accident, big deal," Theresa snarled.

"Might get us killed one of these days,"

"You're really irritating,"

"Oh well," Adam shrugged, then gestured to nowhere in particular. "Shall we?"

"Shall we what?"

"Get moving, obviously, the rift is clearly not here,"

"Why are you putting on your stupid English accent?"

Adam looked baffled. "I am English!"

"Well stop, it's distracting,"

"There's no winning with you," Adam sighed.

"No there isn't," Theresa smiled and produced a small pouch from her jacket pocket.

"Oh, here we go, pixie dust," Adam put his hands on his hips and looked around.

"No pleasing you, is there?" Theresa muttered as she launched a handful of dust into the air. It spread out to form a ring around her, its colour changing from red to blue before a section of it rippled.

Theresa smiled triumphantly.

"Quality pixie dust," she said walking in the direction of the ripple. The ring remained around her as she moved and with its ten-foot radius Adam had to keep his distance.

"Think it could be underground?" Adam asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Yeah, could be, which makes our job a bit harder,"

"Where's this SHIELD team we're supposed to meet anyway?"

"I've no idea,"

"Maybe if you hadn't teleported us to some random location and-"

Theresa's body suddenly jerked, and she bounced backward onto her arse with a scream of pain. Adam, with a startled cry, shielded his face with his arms, his coat falling to the ground. "Shit!" he yelped, his hands coming alight with magical flame. "What the fuck was that?"

Theresa was holding her face and rolling around on the ground like a football player. "Shit! Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Adam!" she shrieked.

Adam dropped to his knees beside her. "What happened?"

Theresa removed her hands slowly. Her nose was a mess and running blood. "Adam!" she whined.

"Oh. Oh! That's disgusting," Adam heaved. He wasn't a fan of blood.

"Fix it!" Theresa's nasally voice demanded.

Adam clasped a hand over her face like he was about to crush her skull then quietly muttered in an alien tongue. He heard a crack and Theresa grabbed his shirt tightly with a gasp.

"Fuck!" she spat as Adam released her head.

"Better?" Adam asked. Her nose now back to normal though blood still stained her upper lip and chin.

"Well, it still hurts," she grumbled and sat up.

"What happened anyway?"

"I walked into something,"

Adam glanced around in the direction they'd been walking. He couldn't see anything at first but then something wavering caught his eye about six feet away. He tipped his head to the side in confusion, then slowly realised what he was looking at.

"There's something cloaked right here," he said getting to his feet and cautiously taking a few steps forward. He waved his arms in front of him like it was pitch black until he struck something hard and metallic. He ran his hand over it. Whatever it was curved upwards above his head. The more he focussed the more obvious it was at how large the cloaked thing was.

"What is it?" Theresa asked, she was still sat on the floor wiping her face.

"I've no idea but it's big,"

"Yeah? Well, it broke my nose whatever it is,"

Adam backed away. "You good?" he asked, looking at his partner.

"Fine,"

"You've got some blood on your chin," he pointed at his own face to indicate where on hers.

"Here?" she tried mimicked him.

"No," he grabbed her hand and repositioned it. "There,"

"Right, thanks,"

Adam squinted. "Jesus Christ you bleed a lot," he tipped her chin up.

"What?"

"Give me a baby wipe," he wiggled his hand at her. She handed him one. He held her head steady by the base of her skull and wiped her throat which somehow had lines of blood running down it.

"Could you not grip my head like that?"

"What?"

"I said-"

"Excuse me?" a voice said from behind them.

Adam turned quickly and raised his hands.

"Was I interrupting something here?" the man asked. He was middle-aged and friendly looking despite the gun he had pointed in their direction.

"Um, hi, we were- uh-" Adam stammered.

"We're looking for someone," Theresa finished, her head poking up over Adam's shoulder, she noticed the man was walking exactly where the invisible thing was not. "Are you them?"

"Depends, who are you looking for?"

"A guy called Coulson," Theresa said.

"So, you must be Oric's son?" Coulson looked at Adam.

Adam lowered his hands and nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's me, this is my partner, Theresa,"

Coulson lowered his gun.

"I'm Agent Coulson, nice to meet you,"

"Likewise," Theresa nodded.

They shook hands. Adam pointed at the cloaked thing.

"What is it?"

"Ah, my plane, why?"

"Broke her nose," Adam shrugged and picked his coat up off the floor, this time putting it on. "Which is pretty ballsy, she'd kill me if I broke her nose,"

"Right," Coulson quirked a brow.

Adam cleared his throat. "So… The rift?"

Coulson gestured for them to follow.

"How'd you know we were here?" Theresa asked.

"You tripped a proximity alarm,"

"And you investigated by yourself?" she frowned.

"Not exactly," Coulson gestured with a hand and a large black male rose from the grass nearby.

Adam jumped when he saw him. Theresa laughed.

"Easy, you alright?" the man asked.

"Yeah," Adam sniffed quickly. "Who are you?"

"Mack," he replied.

"Nice to meet you, I guess," Adam said, his heart still rapidly beating.

"The Captain's pretty shaken up about this so, I hope you can fix this," Mack told him. Adam looked up at the taller man.

"Did you say, the Captain?" he asked. "As in Captain America?"

"Something wrong with that?" Mack asked.

"Oh man," he looked at Theresa. "We're going to meet the Captain!"

Mack quirked a brow. "Man, how old are you?"

Adam rounded on him, pointed a finger. "You didn't react the same the first time you met the Captain?"

Mack's half-hearted shrug told him all he needed to know.

* * *

Adam and Theresa followed the two agents down a series of tunnels below the national park until they eventually emerged in a large chamber filled with people. Everyone turned to face the newcomers, Adam could feel them all sizing him up before Coulson broke the silence.

"Everyone, this is Adam and his partner, Theresa,"

Adam didn't pay attention to the smiles and minor greetings from the team as his eyes were drawn to the corner of the room where the rift warped. Adam felt his eyes dilate, Theresa's would be doing the same, being this close to a power source like this triggered their demonic genes and sent them into near overdrive.

Their flesh rippled, and they took subconscious steps toward it. Drawn like moths to a light.

"Hey!" a voice boomed and the two of them were forcefully yanked away.

Theresa shook her head to snap out of it.

"What was that?" she asked Adam as the two of them panted heavily.

"The energy, we're not used to it,"

"Never felt anything like it,"

"No." Adam looked at her, Theresa's cheeks had turned a radiant white colour, it was as if her face had been splattered. "Your face,"

"Yours too,"

They turned their heads back to the rift.

"That's not a rift to hell," Adam muttered.

"Then?"

"I don't know, I didn't resist the energy from here at all,"

"What're you two thinking?" said the same voice that had yelled before.

Adam and Theresa got to their feet and dusted themselves off. Their faces returning to normal.

"Sorry, caught us by surprise," Theresa answered.

Turning they came face to face with Steve Rogers himself.

"Holy moly!" Adam exclaimed, bowled over with excitement.

Theresa noticed the Captain looked equally surprised, and not from Adam's outburst.

"It's so good to meet you, sir," Adam grabbed the Captain's hand and pumped it enthusiastically.

Steve smiled in return. "Good to meet you too,"

"Man, a dream come true," Adam continued. "This must be really important if you're here,"

"It is," Steve nodded, then looked at them both.

Adam, composing himself much quicker than Theresa was expecting, nodded his head and looked to Coulson.

"So, what did my dad tell you about this?" he asked.

The agent shrugged slightly. "Not much, just that there wasn't a rift here on his mystical map or something,"

"What?" Adam frowned, he looked at Theresa for a moment. She shrugged. "Map?"

"Yeah, he said it shows up all the-" Coulson saw the two Cambion's faces. "Is there not a map?"

"No, there's no map," Theresa said.

"The only reason my dad knows where the Hell Rifts are, is because he, and the other Upper Demons, are the ones that open them,"

Steve frowned. "Why do they do that? It puts everyone in danger,"

"They have no choice, Hell is a realm of magic and magic, like pressure, builds up, and needs to be released, if it's not then, who knows what'll happen, but it'll be worse than a single rift,"

"So, these rifts are like pressure valves?" Jemma suddenly chipped in from across the chamber. Adam looked over and nodded.

"Pretty much,"

"So, your job is to close them?" Steve asked. "Shut these valves off?"

"No," Adam shook his head. "A certain amount of magical energy needs to be released each day, our task is to be on standby and stop anything that comes out, we're like border control between Life and Hell,"

"Then why, if he opens them, does he not know about this one?" Steve pointed at the rift.

"Because it's not a Hell rift," Theresa told them. "Not one we're familiar with anyway,"

"What is it then?"

"I-"

"We don't know," Theresa chipped in. "But it's powerful, and it's messing with us at the moment,"

"Messing with you how?"

"We've got a link to magical sources, it's the demon half of us, but this… This is activating those genes in a way we've previously learned to suppress, overriding us, in a way,"

"Is that a problem?"

"Not really, we just need a little while to adjust," Theresa explained.

"What happens if your genes get activated?"

"Not entirely sure," Adam said bluntly.

"Great,"

"Look, it won't happen," Theresa said. "However, that does mean we'll take a little longer in getting this job done,"

Adam looked at the rift again. "We need to contain it,"

Theresa nodded and dropped her bag on the floor.

"Has anything… Strange come out of it?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, a little red demon thing," Natasha said.

"And?"

"We killed it," Steve answered.

"The ashes?"

Natasha pointed to the pile a few feet from her.

Adam looked at Theresa. "Imps,"

"Imps," she agreed and produced a small tome. "I could use the ashes,"

Adam scraped up as much as he could into a small pouch. He straightened and stepped up beside Theresa who was facing the rift and flicking through the book, he tucked the pouch into her jacket pocket and folded his arms.

"We good to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, one sec, need to find the right spell,"

They lapsed into silence. Adam looked blankly around at the chamber walls. There was nothing special about anything, it was just a cave. As Theresa murmured to herself, Adam turned to some softly approaching footsteps. It was a pale skinned girl with brown hair. She smiled.

"Excuse me, but I- Fitz and I, that is, well, we were wondering what this all is,"

"As in the rift?" Adam frowned slightly.

"Well, all of it, really, how is this all possible?"

"Ah, you mean magic,"

"Not magic, obviously, because that doesn't exist," Jemma said adamantly.

"It doesn't? Damn," he looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Theresa, we need to quit,"

"Why?"

"Magic doesn't exist,"

"Oh ha, ha, very funny," Jemma made a face.

"But honestly, it's a concept that's very rarely been explained to me, I just don't know how else to explain the concept of hell without using the word magic,"

"I see," Jemma nodded. "Are we able to run some tests?"

"Uh-"

"No," Theresa said quickly. "Definitely not, we don't even know what we're up against here let alone having you near it,"

There was a crackling sound from the rift. Adam spun abruptly, watched the rift dilate to twice its size.

"Tess?" he asked with concern.

"I have no idea, I didn't do anything,"

From the rift emerged a mammoth of a creature, spiny and orange with mottled dry flesh covered in a weird armour, it gurgled unpleasantly as it eased its way into their world. Adam recoiled away from it, a few of the others yelped in horror, a sound which was abruptly followed by swearing and gunfire. The creature, roughly the size of an adult rhino, fixed its gaze on the two Cambions that stood closest to it.

"Oh mother-" Adam grabbed Theresa and tackled her to the side as the creature stampeded straight by them and into the wall on the other side of the chamber. Guns cracked loudly, the creature roared in pain as it was hit. It spun and charged once more, this time toward Jemma. Steve hurled his shield at it, the force, surprisingly, staggered the thing and switched its attention to him.

"Adam tether it!" Theresa screamed at him as the two of them sprung to their feet.

"To what!?" Adam yelled back as the Captain avoided a savage claw swipe from the thing.

"The rift! Tether it to the rift!" She screamed in response.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, a javelin appearing in his right hand, when he threw it, chain ran from the shaft and endless length that seemed to appear from nowhere. The weapon buried itself in the creature's shoulder, it cried out and turned to face him.

"Give me a break," Adam huffed as he ran straight at it, he dropped to his knees and skidded through its legs, as he emerged from the other side he lobbed the chain that had been accumulating in his hand straight into the rift. The chain was gobbled up and immediately went taunt, dragging the creature back into it. Coulson's team were still unloading clip after clip into the thing but that only pissed it off and made it struggle even harder against the rift.

"Stop!" Theresa ordered, worried a stray bullet would catch her partner. "Stop!"

Adam conjured a second javelin and threw it, this time into the demon rhino thing's back, he yanked hard on the chain in an attempt to reel it in like a wild dog. However, that only seemed to piss it off more.

"A little help here!" Adam grunted.

Steve watched for a moment, when the demon's attention was momentarily on someone else, he bolted forward with his shield raised and shoulder charged the thing in the face. Surprised the demon stumbled backward a few feet toward the rift.

Theresa stared in shock as the chain Adam was holding went slack and he lost his footing.

"What are you doing?" she screamed at the Captain in horror.

Steve said nothing and charged again, this time dipping down and springing upward to send the demon over backward. Theresa out of instinct threw a ball of flame into the Captain, and though it sent him hurtling across the room, it was already too late for Adam.

She could only stand by and helplessly watch as both the demon and Adam were swallowed entirely by the unknown rift.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, it's been a few months since I last updated anything. I really just haven't been in the mood to write anything in all honesty, now that I have, I can't guarantee that the updates will be regular from now on but I'll do my best. Hopefully, I can get back into things. Anyway, if you've been waiting for the update, here you go, hope you like it; if this is your first time reading, I hope you enjoyed.**


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